His hand moved between her legs, finding her wet center ready and waiting for him. He slipped a finger inside her and she arched her back in response, leaning her head back against his shoulder as she pressed against his palm. He continued to stroke her as he kissed and nipped at the back of her neck. She held onto the ladder as her knees buckled beneath her and she began to whimper. Then she felt him pull his hand away and she began to protest but before she could form the words he was inside her, entering her from behind as she held onto the ladder for support.
She cried out in pleasure as he began to pump into her, gripping the sides of the ladder and caging her in between his strong arms. She arched her back, pressing her backside up against him so that he could enter her fully. This allowed him to reach a new depth inside her that had her screaming in ecstasy and begging for more. She braced herself against the ladder as he pushed into her over and over, with each thrust she cried out until finally she felt the flood gates released between her legs and all her strength seemed to flow from her. She began to collapse and Aaron caught her in his arms, lifting her up and carrying her to the bed.
~∞~
Over the next several weeks Maggie fell into a wonderful routine. She loved working with Ms. Brandy at the antique store, having lunch with Andi each day at their favorite café, and coming home to Aaron every night. One morning when Maggie came into work she found a brochure for Mercer University conspicuously lying on the counter. She picked it up and began flipping through it.
“I got that for my granddaughter, Melissa, last year,” Ms. Brandy said as she came around a corner.
“Is she pre-med?” Maggie asked.
“During her senior year of high school that girl considered being everything from a doctor to an astronaut. None of it really stuck,” she laughed.
“She’s in Hawaii now, right?” Maggie remembered.
“Sure is, studying accounting of all things. Accounting! Cuz obviously you need to go all the way to Hawaii to study accounting!” Ms. Brandy rolled her eyes, but Maggie could see that beneath her exasperation she genuinely missed her granddaughter.
“You must miss her,” Maggie said sympathetically. She thought briefly of her own mother and wondered if she ever thought of her.
“Least I still got Lacey and all her youngins to spoil,” Ms. Brandy said happily. “I heard baby Aaron should be able to come home from the hospital next week. I know poor ole Travis is countin’ down the days till Momma comes home to help with all those little rug rats.”
Maggie laughed as she imagined the big hulk of a man she’d met at the hospital changing diapers and filling sippy cups.
“Are you related to Lacey?” she asked.
“Lacey is Melissa’s cousin on her father’s side. But family’s family as far as I’m concerned. Both girls used to stay with me all the time when they were growin’ up and now Lacey’s babies call me Granny,” Ms. Brandy said proudly. “Melissa will be back. She needed to strike out on her own for a bit, but she’ll come home. She’s got too much family here to stay gone.”
“It must be nice to have such a big family.” Maggie said wistfully. She’d never had any siblings or cousins growing up. She never even had any playmates outside of school.
Most of her childhood had been spent alone with her mother, learning how to be the perfect little lady, how to keep quiet and look pretty, to have perfect manners and popular opinions. Her father was always at the office or away on some business trip and she’d only had one living grandmother, who’d been a very stern woman that Maggie had always been somewhat frightened of. Maggie realized that the housekeeper, Mrs. Burton, was the closest thing she’d ever had to the kind of grandmother that Ms. Brandy was.
“Family doesn’t have to be blood,” Ms. Brandy told her, breaking into her sad reverie. “It’s the people you choose to surround yourself with, the people who love you. Family is what you make it.”
The sound of the door chime announced the arrival of the first customer of the day. Ms. Brandy came around the counter to greet the customer leaving Maggie with a few moments to collect her thoughts before the next customer arrived.
The morning passed quickly and when it was time for lunch Maggie walked to the grocery store to meet up with Andi.
“I have a plan,” she told her friend as they ordered lunch at their favorite café.
“Sounds devious,” Andi teased. “I’m in!”
“I’m staying in Georgia,” Maggie announced. It felt good to say it aloud. It made her decision feel more concrete.
“Oh, Maggie, that’s wonderful! I’m so glad you’ve decided to stay,” Andi gushed, “but what about medical school?”
“Mercer has a program in Savannah that I’m going to look into,” Maggie told her.
“We could be roommates!” Andi squealed. “I know where the Mercer campus is. It’s not that far from Savannah State. This is perfect!”
Maggie laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm. As she sat with Andi eating lunch and planning their future, Maggie realized that if she had left Aaron wouldn’t have been the only person she would have missed terribly. It may have taken her twenty-four years but Maggie finally had a best friend and she’d been worth the wait.